TJ Hoover should be dead. That’s what doctors said, at least. But during his “honor walk,” the emotional moments before a person’s organs are donated, TJ’s eyes popped open and started tracking people in the hallway. According to NBC affiliate LEX 18 in Lexington, Kentucky, he was supposed to be brain-dead.
Now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investigating what the hell is going on with some organ procurement organizations, especially Kentucky’s Network for Hope, which recently merged with Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, or KODA.
Hoover had overdosed in 2021 and was declared brain dead. But according to his sister, Donna Rhorer, and multiple former employees of KODA, signs of life were definitely present. “He was moving a lot, just thrashing, not settled,” said Natasha Miller, a former surgical preservationist on TJ’s case. A doctor ultimately stopped the organ harvesting procedure mid-operation, telling Rhorer, “He’s not ready. He woke up.”
They proceeded anyway, and oh, it gets darker.
Kentucky Man Suffers From PTSD After Waking up During Organ Harvesting Procedure
Nyckoletta Martin, a surgical preservation coordinator who was scheduled to take over TJ’s case, said Hoover had been sedated and paralyzed before surgery. Procedures that, in this context, made some hospital staff believe they were witnessing euthanasia. The attending cardiologist reportedly questioned the brain death prognosis altogether.
Both Martin and Miller have since left KODA. TJ somehow survived, against all odds. But he now suffers from PTSD, and his family has become vocal advocates for organ donation reform.
A House subcommittee held hearings in July to probe safety lapses and ethical breaches within the organ procurement system. Right now, the general sentiment is that what happened to TJ might not have been a one-off incident.
Network for Hope released a statement framing the hearings as a chance to “clarify the role OPOs play” and insisted they hold themselves to “the highest standards.”
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